1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to computer software and hardware systems, and more particularly, to such a system for providing assessment of multiple levels of effectiveness.
2. Background
As part of providing quality educational opportunities, many academic institutions are interested in assessing and evaluating their performance and efforts as well as the performance of units and individuals within the institution. These institutions can include, for example, on-line institutions, K-12 schools, colleges, universities and even multi-campus university systems. One purpose of assessment involves collecting and documenting the necessary evidence needed for satisfying the requirements of regional or national accreditation bodies. Another purpose is to allow the institution to make informed and objective decisions about, for example, curriculum content, course offerings, and educational effectiveness.
In the past, assessment efforts have been disjointed and performed in relative isolation at the different levels of the academic institution. For example, the assessment process at the classroom level was performed separate from any assessment (if ever performed) at a department level or higher (e.g., institutional level). This approach lead to redundancy of information and efforts, as well as disparate results that would need to be combined in some manner and evaluated if an overall assessment result is desired.
Furthermore, identifying and collecting information needed to meet accreditation requirements may be performed on an ad-hoc basis when needed. These processes are then repeated the next time accreditation is reviewed. Such an approach relies heavily on repeatedly reviewing the same information and generating the necessary documentation each time accreditation is reviewed.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an assessment system for institutions that is able to consider and connect multiple organizational tiers of the institution and to provide systematic and systemic data collection, organization, and retrieval components to support institutional assessment efforts.